Randall Beach: Oh no! Mass. marijuana sales stymied by bureaucrats

Sorry, people: It’s not yet time to get into your car and head up to our neighboring state of Massachusetts to buy legal marijuana.

For many months we had been told that July 1 would be the day. That was the date retail sales were supposed to begin, as originally specified by Massachusetts state legislators following a state ballot referendum two years ago approving legalization.

But once again the bureaucrats have thwarted the will of the people. And so still we must wait, maybe for as long as months down the road.

It just so happened I was in the great state of Massachusetts last weekend. (Note: Sunday was July 1.) My wife and I had booked a room in downtown Northampton, a town we often enjoy visiting. And sure, I timed it so I could also make this a little field trip, a reconaissance mission to let the folks back in Connecticut know where and how they could do some weedy business.

But alas, a few days before our departure, I started doing some online research. The news was not good.

“There will be no legal recreational marijuana sales in Massachusetts on July 1,” reported the State House News Service. “There can be no legal retail sales until an independent laboratory applies and is licensed by the Cannabis Control Commission.”

The news story said: “The CCC formally asked its staff to prioritize the review of license applications for independent testing laboratories, a critical link of the supply chain without which no retail shops can open, since state law requires all marijuana sold to be tested and approved by a lab.”

What? They’ve created a Cannabis Control Commission?

Yes, and so you can picture your intrepid cannabis correspondent last Saturday afternoon, crouching in front of a newspaper vending box on Main Street in Northampton, reading the grim confirmation in the Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Pot still on the back burner.”

I tossed five quarters into the slot and read a report by staff writer M.J. Tidwell: “Recreational cannabis sales for adults 21 and over become legal Sunday but not one store will be open to sell it.”

Tidwell noted it’s up to that infernal Cannabis Control Commission to issue licenses. Tidwell wrote: “When stores will actually open is, well, a little hazy.”

What on earth have the esteemed members of the Cannabis Control Commission been doing for the past six months? They didn’t see this coming? Isn’t that their job?

The people of Massachusetts approved legalization in 2016, not 2017. They have been very patient (as have we Nutmeggers). They have the right to be able to buy marijuana legally by now.

If anybody thinks that any stores will open within a few weeks, here’s a reality check via last weekend’s Sunday Republican of Springfield, which described the Kafkaesque process. The headline: “Still just saying no.”

Sunday Republican reporter Shira Schoenberg had done her homework. She noted “It can take time” for a prospective business owner to find a town that does not have a ban or moratorium on marijuana businesses. (The Boston Globe has reported that overall in the state, about 60 municipalities have banned the businesses and twice as many have temporary moratoriums.)

Schoenberg said that if the hopeful marijuana store owner finds a town more welcoming of such an enterprise, “then the owner has to figure out that town’s zoning and find an available parcel in the correct zone. Some landlords or banks will not rent to a marijuana business, and leases can be more expensive. Once a site is found, the business has to go through the process of getting local approval and developing a host agreement.”

Schoenbeg added: “The Cannabis Control Commission requires a four-part application. Once an application is completed, the commission must review it. Background checks must be performed on owners, managers and certain employees.”

And even if the business person is granted a provisional license, the business must still build out its site, get inspections done and secure a final license. Whew!

Schoenberg quoted an advocate for the marijuana sellers predicting there could be “a handful” of retail stores open by Labor Day.

Surely we would see many Connecticut municipalities enacting prohibitions on marijuana sales if, perhaps in our lifetimes, our own state legislators yield to the will of the people and approve such sales. Polls consistently show about 70 percent of Connecticut residents favor legalizing marijuana.

But when our time finally comes, some towns and cities will agree to allow responsible sellers to open such stores.

We can do this! Marijuana sales are now humming along in nine states. Four years ago, I visited marijuana stores in Colorado and the sky had not fallen. I bought a marijuana cookie and I did not freak out or jump off a building.

I don’t often smoke marijuana and I won’t appreciably increase my inhaling when I can start to obtain it legally. I’m more of a beer and wine and doughnuts guy. But I still think it will be a fun novelty to be able to drive up to Massachusetts and sample some legal pot, including tasty cookies and brownies.

And now for some happy news from my Northampton sojourn: I discovered the Glazed Doughnut Shop! It sits in a tidy space just off Main Street and you can bet I got down there last Sunday morning to eat a delicious coconut doughnut. Who needs pot when you’ve got that?

Discovery number two: while dining on the outdoor deck of a downtown restaurant, I spotted a familiar-looking space being used by bicyclists, walkers and runners. Could it be? I strolled over there later and the signs confirmed it: this was the New Haven to Northampton Rail Trail!

In the mid-1800s the Farmington Canal ran from the New Haven Harbor all the way to Northampton (80 miles). But the canal went bankrupt in 1846 and two years later was replaced by the Farmington Canal Railroad. In 1983 heavy spring floods washed out parts of the line in Cheshire and rail service was discontinued. A few years after that, local citizens successfully worked to convert the canal and railroad remnants into a fabulous paved trail for recreation.

I often run on that trail through Hamden. And last Sunday morning I had a pleasurable run on part of its Northampton section before it got really, really hot and before I ate that coconut doughnut.